What Our Students Want Us to Know

This semester, I'm teaching 99 students in Corporations & Partnerships. The shift to online teaching has not been without its hiccups. Last week, I send out a survey asking my students how they are doing generally and how they are experiencing online education.

I included in the survey an open-ended question: "Is there anything you would like your professors generally to know?"  I reprint representative responses below. No law professor in this time of crisis will be surprised by any of the substantive comments, but they ground my perspective as I look at the calendar that includes four more weeks of teaching.

• It's extremely nerve wracking knowing that I will likely be graduating into a recession with $150K+ in student loan debt, and now I don't even know if I will still have a job this summer.

• Mental health-wise, my anxiety has been pretty bad but I have been doing my best to complete my school work and push through. I just wanted to point this out as it might not be seen as an extreme circumstance, it still has slightly disrupted how I normally am able to study in a library or have separation of school and home. 

• I live with an individual that suffers from various mental disorders. This means there are times that I have to tend to them because they have unpredictable outbursts. This may factor into my learning or the final exam.

• I would say mostly that it is difficult to learn from home especially that my wife is home as well. We live in a one bedroom with our two pets so not much space for me to be alone. It is hard for me to get quiet time. 

• I have a very limited study space at home and no ideal place to take exams - only a very small kitchen table in a shared apartment.

• When being home, there is more distraction especially since my younger siblings have begun online schooling as well. Being closer to school years than my parents (and more technology savvy) I feel responsible for helping my younger siblings and finding it harder to put my studies first.

• Student anxiety is much higher than usual. Having to worry about your family and loved ones during all of this makes it that much harder to focus on school. It is tough.

• I find that working from home has shifted my mental perspective in the sense that it never feels ok to take a break and I always feel an obligation to work from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep. This has been my greatest mental struggle so far but I recognize that many have much more severe struggles to cope with.

• My sleep schedule is completely changed, my ability to focus has completely changed, my environment has completely changed. It has been a very rough transition.

• Family members are sick and it can be very stressful. 

• I find myself drifting off and feel physically drained every single day to the point where I cannot get out of bed. 

• I might not be able to afford school next year, which is very scary and distracting. 

• I know that the likelihood of my contracting the virus and dying is low, but I tend to have incredibly low blood sugars, and often in the middle of the night that have on a multitude of occasions necessitated emergency aid. This is actually what I am most concerned with, that my normal emergencies will not be able to be priority.

• I just can't concentrate because I'm terrified. I can't sleep. Although I technically have more time, I find so much time is taken up procuring supplies and cleaning and keeping track of news and family.  

• I am having a hard time studying due to the lack of access to any library or quiet study space. I do not even have a desk.

• I sometimes find it difficult to stay engaged when we are learning virtually. I find there are more distractions with the utilization of technology. And even though I have a quiet place to work because I live alone, sitting on my couch does not provide for the most conducive work environment. 

• I don’t have access to a working printer, and it’s hard to get any quiet alone time to really work undistracted. 

• Family members can cause distractions, and, as all professors most likely can relate to, most family members don't “get it” when it comes to law school and how much effort we have to put in, which makes this situation difficult. Further, some students, including myself, are continuing their externships remotely, and do still have other commitments besides classes. 

• Students focusing on/prioritizing the health and wellness of their family members (especially older or other high-risk members). Online-learning is not the best way to learn for some students. Students are scared of what is going on in the world. 

• We have other duties now that are imposed onto us because of this pandemic. I personally have family who are affected by the virus, some have it (not in my household). I barely have time to concentrate on school work now as opposed to going to school in person where I used school as an escape from the stresses of the home. 

• This is such a difficult time and most of my belongings are scattered across 3 states, including my means of transportation. It is increasingly difficult to study in a space that is not my own. I am definitely a student who must seclude themselves in order to study and right now I am sharing a small space with 3 other adults. There is no desk here and often I am distracted by the housework that needs to be done. Many of us cannot access the traditional study spaces that have gotten us through law school thus far. 

• Be understanding when grading that student performances on this exam are not a reflection of them but a reflection of the difficult circumstances.

• Just how difficult learning online can be, and how this is not the experience that we signed up for. There are additional burdens being placed on all of us, which do make it harder to necessarily dedicate time to our studies which we normally would allocate.

Comments

[Scott Fruehwald]

Good teachers listen to their students. Master teachers seek out their students to discover what they are thinking. Thanks for sharing this.

[Patricia Roberts]

These are everyone's students. Thank you for sharing.

[Joshua Kastenberg]

I think our students want us to lead. (I have the criminal procedure class down on zoom). Real leadership is hard to find, and these days, there is anti-leadership. After all, who would proclaim their efforts a 10 out of 10. This may sound like hyperbole, particularly from someone who spent almost a quarter century in uniform before coming into academia. Douglas MacArthur once said “you are always on parade.” I don’t particularly like his place in history, and I believe there were far better generals as well as far better presidential aspirants. But he had a point. Many of my students are worried, they are stressed – not only about finishing school, but about their families. They want something from us beyond a zoom lecture (and even beyond a funny zoom lecture). They want solutions and real hope, and they want an honest voice who admits a deficit in a particular point of law (or, in the case of one professor who this site ably outed, a law professor serving as a faux virologist). I don’t have a magic wand for ideas but here are two I am working on: (1) an Air B&B model for students who are returning to colleges in my state, but cannot afford housing for next year. We will be seeking volunteers on the faculty to host a student, or family, for the year and try to de-conflict the ethics implications in the process. (2) I reach out to my students via zoom, skype, and e-mail … just because. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start…. Just an idea

[anon]

Striking that law schools are closing their buildings and not offering space to so many students who have expressed the need to study on campus.

It might not be that difficult to set up some social distancing on campus. After all, the classrooms are all empty.